F-35 bill just went up (again): Tories spend $600K on KPMG audit of jet program

The Harper government has hired the accounting firm KPMG to crunch the numbers on the controversial F-35 stealth fighter program — at a cost of $643,535 to taxpayers.

The assessment was ordered after a biting report from the auditor general accused the Tories of hiding the real cost of the fighter jets and withholding information. The independent review will inform the National Defence annual update tabled in Parliament.

The government promised last spring the review would be complete and tabled in Parliament by June, but it was forced to re-issue the tender last month after the original contract didn’t allow the accountants enough flexibility to complete the work.

Opposition parties have hammered the Tories, and in particular, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, over the bungled procurement process. MacKay faced repeated calls to resign or be sacked for his role in the controversy and was widely expected to be removed from the defence portfolio in a cabinet shuffle earlier this year.

The government initially projected the acquisition of the jets would cost $16-billion, but auditor general Michael Ferguson and the Parliamentary budget officer later indicated the cost was likely much higher.

Ferguson even accused the Defence Department of low-balling the estimate by not including operating expenses, which could amount to $10 billion over the 30-year life of the aircraft.

KPMG was hired to complete specific tasks. It will review the National Defence “acquisition and sustainment project assumptions and potential costs for the replacement of the CF-18s.”